LEYLAND HUNDRED 



RUFFORD 



by the Presbyterians.^ On the Restoration it 

 became episcopal, but was little used and went 

 to ruin.2 In 1 7 19 Mrs. Legh of Bank gave land 

 for St. Mary's for the worship of the Church of 

 England, others of the people subscribing towards the 

 building.' She and her heirs were to have the 

 nomination of the curate, with the approbation of 

 the rector of Croston. There was no endowment at 

 that time.* 



The patronage seems to have been acquired by the 

 rector absolutely, for in 1821, when Tarleton was 

 made an independent parish, the Rev. Streynsham 

 Master, the rector, held it and gave it to his son, the 

 Rev. R. M. Master ; it was afterwards sold to 

 the Rev. M. Fletcher, whose son, the present rector 

 of Chorley, is now patron. The value of the benefice 

 is returned as ^^530.^ 



The following have been the curates and rectors : — 

 1720 William Charnley, B.A.« (St. John's Coll., 



Camb.) 

 1722 William Tomlinson, B.A."^ 

 1746 George Barber, B.A.' 

 1765 George Chamberlaine, M.A.' 



1 795-1 800 Edward Master, B.A.'" 



Rectors 

 1 82 1 Streynsham Master, M.A." (Balliol Coll., 



Oxf) 

 1864 Matthew Fox Fletcher, B.A.'^ (T.C.D. and 



Oxf) 

 1 875 Robert Crompton Fletcher, M.A." (Sidney 



Sussex Coll., Camb.) 

 1908 Christopher Cronshaw ''' 

 The schoolroom at Mere Brow is used for service. 

 The Wesleyan Methodists have chapels at Tarle- 

 ton '^ and at Holmes,^" and the Primitive Methodists 

 one at Mere Brow.^' 



A school was founded in 1 706.'^ 



Hannah Leadbetter in 1757 

 CHJRITIES'^^ bequeathed ^loo for cloth for the 

 poor. The money was invested in 

 land in Heslceth, which produces ^^ 1 5 10/. a year, 

 spent in gifts of calico.^" The township has a share 

 of Dr. Layfield's Croston charky, £^ ijs. ']d. a year, 

 used in a similar manner,^' and twice every ten years 

 receives the Crooke and Master charity for religious 

 books, ^11 18;. (>dP 



RUFFORD 



Ruchford, 1212 ; RufFord, 1285 ; Roughford, 

 1 3 1 8 ; Rughford, 1332; Roghforth, 1 4 1 1 . 



This township was separated from the parish of 

 Croston in 1793 by an Act of Parliament.-* The 

 church and village lie at the southern end of some 

 slightly rising ground in the level tract between the 

 Douglas, flowing north, and the former Martin Mere, 

 while the hall (1798) and park, the principal features 

 of the township, occupy the greater part of the 

 elevation.^'' Another portion, similar!}- a little higher 



than the general level, lies to the north-west, and is 

 called Holmes Wood.^'' The area of the parish is 

 3,119 acres,-'' and the population in 1 90 1 numbered 

 782, mostly employed in agriculture. 



The principal road is that leading north from 

 Ormskirk. It passes through the picturesque village, 

 and thence along the east side of the park. The Old 

 Hall lies on the east side of the road, one branch 

 from which goes eastward past the church and railway 

 station and crosses the Douglas by White Bridge, 



^ In 1650 the inhabitants of Tarleton, 

 Holmes and Sollom were building them- 

 selves a church at Blackgatc Lane end 

 (the Three Lanes end), which it was 

 recommended should have a parish 

 assigned to it ; Commoniv, Ch. Sur^-. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), no. 

 The recommendation was further ap- 

 proved in 1658 ; Plund. Mini. Accti. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 259. 



* Notitia Cestr. ii, 368-70, notes. 



' Some of those who had promised 

 refused to pay, disapproving of the site 

 chosen. For proceedings in 1726 to 

 enforce payment see Chan. Petty Bag, 

 Charitable Uses, 61/49. 



* Notitia Cestr. loc. cit. There was 

 one chapel-warden. Mr. Legh gave ,^200 

 in 1719 and Mrs. Barton added a like 

 amount in 1723. 



A curacy house, described above, was 

 built in 1729. The incumbent receives 

 lOi. a year from Ellen Greenough's 

 Charity ; see Prescot. 



^ Manch, Dioc. Dir, 



"The list of curates from 1720 to 

 1820 is due to the Ven. Archdeacon 

 Fletcher, who has assisted the editors in 

 other ways. 



W. Charnley was nominated by Henri- 

 etta Maria Legh of Bank. 



' Collated by the bishop. He was 

 buried at Preston 13 July 1746. 



* Nominated by Peter Legh of Lyme. 

 ' Nominated by Peter Legh of Bank. 



^° There was a contest as to the right 

 of presentation. E. Master was nomi- 

 nated 10 Oct. 1795 by his father, Robert 

 Master, as rector of Croston. On 1 5 

 Feb. 1796 John Ruller was nominated 

 by Anthony Keck Legh of Bank, with 

 the approbation of the rector. Then on 

 15 Dec. 1798 George Wearing was 

 nominated by the rector, and on 21 Oct. 

 1800 Edward Master was again appointed 

 by the rector. The cause of vacancy was 

 the same in each case, viz. the death of 

 G. Chamberlaine. 



^' Also rector of Croston ; he was pre- 

 sented a second time in 1834. The Rev. 

 Edward Master, rector of RufFord, lived 

 in Tarleton and probably acted as curate. 

 In 1 82 1 there was service on Sunday 

 morning and afternoon with a sermon 

 each time, also on Good Friday and 

 Christmas Day. The sacrament was 

 administered four times a year. 



*^ He had been curate of Tarleton 

 from 1853, and previously was chaplain of 

 the West Australia convict settlement. 



"Archdeacon of Blackburn 1901, 

 rector of Chorley 1907, alderman of 

 the County Council. 



"Hon. Canon of Manchester 1905; 

 vicar of Christ Church, Pennington, 

 1868-73 i St. Matthew, Bolton, 1874- 

 90; Westhoughton, 1890-1908. 



'* Built in 1896 to replace one of 

 1 851-7. '8 Rebuilt 1832. 



'^ Built in 1863. There was another 



119 



on Tarleton Moss In 1868. These dates 

 are from Baines' Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 

 132. 



^^ Notitia Cestr. II, 370. It was built 

 close to the site of the chapel of 1650, 

 and some of the materials were used for 

 it, including the date-stone. 



^^ An official inquiry was made in 

 1899; the report includes a reprint of 

 that of 1826. 



'^^ The rector, churchwardens and over- 

 seers appear to have acted as trustees, but 

 in 1895 the parish council claimed the 

 nomination, with the result that in 1899 

 there were no trustees. 



^^ See the account of Croston charities. 

 The distribution of the Leadbetter and 

 Layfield gifts takes place In May ; in 

 1898 the number of recipients was 121, 



"'^ The double share is due to the exist- 

 ence of two National schools — at Tarle- 

 ton and Sollom. The money Is expended 

 in prayer-books and hymn-books for the 

 church, tracts for distribution and the like. 



^^33 Geo. Ill, cap. 24. 



^^ The ground does not rise anywhere 

 to 50 ft. above sea level. 



^^ In 1658 this appears to have been 

 reckoned as part of Tarleton ; Plund. 

 Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 ii, 24.0, Sec. 



^^ The Census Rep. of 1901 gives 

 3,120 acres, including 15 acres of inland 

 water j there are also z acres of tidal 

 water. 



